VILNIUS: Lithuania’s Vilnius airport suspended flights for a second time on Wednesday due to suspected balloons in its airspace, the operator said in a statement, the latest in a string of such incidents in recent months.
Lithuania says balloons are sent by smugglers transporting cigarettes from Belarus, but also blames Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, for not stopping what it calls a form of “hybrid attack.”
Lukashenko has accused the West of fighting a hybrid war against Belarus and Russia.
The Vilnius airport, located some 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Belarus, has been closed more than 10 times since early October as a result of similar incidents.
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Lithuania airport shuts for a second time on Wednesday over balloons
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Lithuania airport shuts for a second time on Wednesday over balloons
- Lithuania says balloons are sent by smugglers transporting cigarettes from Belarus
Swiss bus fire likely ‘intentional,’ terror motive ruled out for now: police
- A bus fire that killed at least six people in western Switzerland was likely set intentionally but probably not as an act of terror, police said on Wednesday
GENEVA: A bus fire that killed at least six people in western Switzerland was likely set intentionally but probably not as an act of terror, police said on Wednesday.
The fire broke out on the bus in the main street of the small town of Kerzers, around 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of the Alpine nation’s capital Bern, at about 6:25 p.m. (1725 GMT) Tuesday.
In an interview on Wednesday morning with Swiss national broadcaster RTS, Fribourg Canton police communications chief Martial Pugin confirmed that while “an intentional act is the most likely scenario,” “at present there is no evidence” it was a terror attack.
The fire broke out on the bus in the main street of the small town of Kerzers, around 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of the Alpine nation’s capital Bern, at about 6:25 p.m. (1725 GMT) Tuesday.
In an interview on Wednesday morning with Swiss national broadcaster RTS, Fribourg Canton police communications chief Martial Pugin confirmed that while “an intentional act is the most likely scenario,” “at present there is no evidence” it was a terror attack.
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